The present invention relates to a phototherapy light for treating infants and, more particularly, to a phototherapy light having an improved support system.
Hyperbilirubinemia is an affliction of newborn infants typified by an elevated level of a toxic molecule known as bilirubin in the infant's blood. Current medical therapy for such affliction is through the use of phototherapy where light radiation, generally within a certain wavelength band is directed upon the infant's skin.
There are a number of means or devices that are conventionally employed to direct the light upon the skin of the infant, one of which is to provide a bank of lights that are portable or can be built into an infant care apparatus and which direct the light radiation toward the infant positioned on an infant platform as a part of that apparatus.
Another means of providing phototherapy is through the use of a fiberoptic pad that is comprised of woven optical fibers such that the light radiation couples out of the optical fibers at the various bends that are formed in the optical fibers during the weaving process.
A still further means or device is by the use of a “gooseneck” phototherapy device that has a maneuverable, elongated neck that the caregiver can bend to the desired position to direct the light radiation upon the area of the infant where the light radiation is needed.
With the “gooseneck” type of phototherapy device, the distal end is positioned so as to direct the light radiation upon the infant and, in use, the distal end actually may be located over the infant in order to provide the needed light for phototherapy. As such, in that orientation the base is considerably remote from the distal end and yet the base supports that distal end and the elongated neck mounted therebetween in a cantilever manner extending outwardly from the base. The result is that the relatively high weight that is suspended over the infant requires substantial components of the phototherapy device to support the optical system adequately.
A difficulty, therefore, in the use of the gooseneck type of phototherapy light device, is that the flexibility and maneuverability of the distal end, as well as the elongated neck are important to facilitate the positioning of the distal, light emanating end at the desired location proximate to the infant and yet it is certainly important that the support for the distal end be sufficiently strong to guard against failure of the elongated neck that could result in the distal end sagging downwardly so as to potentially contact the infant. Since the light emanating, distal end can be at an elevated temperature, the contact with the infant is obviously not desirable and can cause harm to the infant.
At the present, there is provided a single pre-stressed helical spring that comprises a flexible section of the elongated neck in order to allow the user to position the distal end of the device at the desired location with respect to the infant. There are, however, certain difficulties with the use of a single helical spring. Among those difficulties are that the single spring has a high weight, is highly stressed and is a single fault system that upon failure, will inevitable result in the distal end dropping or sagging downwardly and thus having the potential of contacting the infant. The result is that the high stresses needed within the single internal support spring create low safety factors and single fault failure conditions in view of the relatively large mass suspended over the infant.
It would be advantageous to have a design and construction of a “gooseneck” type of phototherapy device that provides the necessary support for the distal end of the device but having reduced stresses and thereby increasing the safety factor so as to reduce the failure potential of the elongated neck and the potential downwardly movement of the distal end of the device.